Bouncer
by No1fan15
Summary: Jasper is the top DJ and bouncer at the Geode nightclub in Empire City. Nothing throws her off her game. Not even that cute girl she saved from a creepy guy at the club. Right?


Anyone who went to The Geode knew who Jasper was.

The semi-popular downtown club in Empire City was a usual spot for newcomers and tourists. Anyone attending would be told about the bouncer slash DJ. They might meet her if they were lucky but if they were unlucky she would be the one throwing them out. She was not someone you wanted to cross. Standing full height at the grand total of six feet seven inches tall she cut an intimidating figure. This was helped by her also being around two hundred and thirty pounds of muscle. Most nights, however, Jasper was up at the turntable. She was the best disk jockey in the city and the club owner knew it.

"You'd think they would give me some newer music to use…" Jasper grumbled to herself one night on the job. She was inaudible to anyone nearby thanks to the massive speakers and she found that it helped her to be able to vent without fear of being heard. Tonight was just like most of the others, with many returning faces on the dance floor. The strobe lighting had used to obscure faces but recently it had been slowed down to allow more people to attend the club without fear of epileptic seizures. Jasper found herself scanning the crowd. She always liked to guess why people were there. Were they dancing to relive stress? To show off? To meet people? Or something else entirely?

"Stressed, show off, regular, pick-up artist, more stress, regular…." Jasper listed off as she looked around the room. Her eyes stopped on one young woman in particular and Jasper found that she couldn't pry her gaze away. "Why are you here?"

The woman was a fair ways away from Jasper, a safe distance from the speakers, but she was in the middle of the crowd. Her dancing was graceful, movements seemingly flowing between limbs and Jasper guessed the woman had professional training of some sort. The woman paused her dance for a moment as the song faded out and opened her eyes. They were a pastel blue that complimented her pale pink hair. She smiled slightly and looked right at Jasper. The DJ felt her heart skip a beat. The distraction was enough to let her playlist jump into the next song, one that she had planned to skip, and the sound of a chart topper from five years ago filled the room. Surprisingly the throng of dancers was pleased. Several people started a chain of a dance move that was considered a meme at best, quickly creating a larger group. Jasper allowed herself a grin. Looks like things worked out fine. She tried to spot that one woman again and found her being reluctantly dragged into the dance choreography that was unfolding below, despite her best efforts. Jasper chuckled, another thing she didn't do often at work, and decided to create another first for herself. She grabbed the main microphone, making sure it was hooked up, and took a deep breath.

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen and everyone in-between! I hope you all are enjoying our current throwback to what was probably your high school years! This particular song goes out to the lovely person with the pink hair and pearl earrings! You know who you are!" The crowd cheered and several people gave the now blushing woman in question a pat on the back. "We've got a great line-up for you folks tonight but next is our slow dance portion. So, grab someone if you want or dance by yourself! No shame here! This has been an announcement from THE BEAST!"

Jasper finished her speech and disconnected the mic. She had never interrupted her own set before, let alone do a shout out, and had given herself a nickname without too much thought. Damn cute girls messing with her head. She left for break as soon as the song ended and after grabbing a quick drink decided to go find that woman. After all she'd just done NOT meeting her would just be rude. Luckily the lady wasn't too hard to find but her situation seemed less than ideal.

"Listen, I'm sure you're a very nice guy but I'm all danced out for the night."

Jasper could hear the tail end of her conversation. She was talking to a man that Jasper had seen around the club before, one whom she had personally kicked out before, and immediately the alarm bells in her head started to ring. That guy was a persistent creep and Jasper knew that he wouldn't give up easily. She strode forward without a second thought and casually put her arm around the woman's shoulder as if they had known each other for years. A motion Jasper hoped the creep caught on to. She shot him a toothy grin.

"Hey babe! Great dancing, and as usual, you were gorgeous. How'd you like the song I played for you? Hope it wasn't too embarrassing." she lied with a wink, hoping her companion caught onto the plan.

"Only you of all people would play our spotlight song from prom, "Beast," and expect me to not be embarrassed." said the woman as she returned the wink.

"How could I not? After all, you're how precious to me?" Jasper said. The corny line earned her a laugh from the lady.

"I suppose you have a point. After all I'm your little Pearl, aren't I?" she said with a grin exuding sincerity while playfully poking Jasper's cheek to emphasizie the name. Jasper guessed that it was the woman's real name.

"Indeed you are." she said. She took the woman's hand gently and kissed it, hoping she got the message across. "So, who's your friend here?"

"Someone who wanted to dance with me. Speaking of, shall we?" she asked. Jasper smirked slightly.

"I heard you say that you're all danced out." she said, reminding the woman of her previous statement. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?"

"You know I always save one for you. C'mon, they're playing our slow dance song." The woman replied with a smile of her own and grabbed Jasper's hand in her much smaller one. She lead them toward the dance floor with renewed enthusiasim.

She waited until they were in the middle of the crowd before letting out a relived sigh. She leaned in so only Jasper could hear her. "Thanks. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"No problem. I know that dude. He's a creep who doesn't recognize the word "No". I've tossed him out of here quite a few times. My boss is getting clearance to ban him." Jasper explained.

"I hope you get that clearance…" grumbled the woman. She glared at the man from across the room with scathing eyes. Jasper grinned. This woman seemed rather feisty.

"I'm Jasper, by the way." she said after a few more seconds of dancing. Her partner smiled.

"So "The Beast" has a name? It's nice to meet you, Jasper. I'm Pearl." she said.

"I kind of guessed that." Said Jasper. She brushed a stray strand of Pearl's hair off of her face and lightly tapped one of her earrings on the way back. "I hope this isn't too awkward for you. I did come out of nowhere and start acting like we're the next big celebrity couple."

"Don't worry about that. I'm very glad you came to rescue me." said Pearl with a slight giggle. She looked Jasper up and down. "You're my knight in raving armor."

The two shared at laugh at the comment as Jasper took a look at her outfit; orange sleeveless tank top, loose khakis, and running shoes. It was a fairly normal ensemble offset by the veritable rainbow of glow sticks hanging from her belt. She was quite the contrast to Pearl's outfit which mainly consisted of a pastel blue belly shirt and baggy cargo shorts. They continued dancing together for awhile enjoying each others company and being careful to keep an eye out for their creeper man. Much to their dismay the man never left the club as he sat watching them from the bar.

"So, danced out for real yet?" Jasper asked Pearl as she noted the smaller woman's fatigue.

"Just about. You?" she replied.

"I'm okay to keep going, but my break is over." Jasper sighed. "I'm on door duty for the next half hour or so. If you want to stand with me you could – "

"Yes!" interrupted Pearl. She cleared her throat with a slight blush. "Yes, I would like to stay with you. At least until that man leaves."

"Alright then. I'll make sure he won't be bugging you." Jasper said. She had known Pearl for all of ten minutes but she found herself growing fonder of her companion every passing second.

"What if he's still there when I leave?" Pearl whispered. Jasper held her a little closer.

"Don't worry. If worse comes to worse you can stay at my place if you want to." She reassured Pearl. Her response was a grateful smile.

Once the song was over, they made their way toward the front of the club and Jasper clipped on her name tag to take up her guard stance outside the entrance. Pearl had retrieved her coat and was shivering slightly despite it so Jasper wrapped one arm around her in an attempt to warm her up. They stayed there mainly in silence save for a few comments on the city itself. A small alarm on Jasper's watch alerted them to the fact that her shift was over and as Jasper looked back into The Geode to search the crowd she spotted the same man from before still watching them. She pulled Pearl a bit closer to her side and began walking to the bus stop.

"He's following us." she whispered. Pearl nodded but didn't look back as she fell into step beside Jasper.

The two almost broke character when the man got onto the same bus. Jasper couldn't cause a scene in such a small place so she shot a scowl his way and sat down next to Pearl. She was sure to take the aisle seat for herself to create a barrier between the creeper and Pearl. She considered striking up a conversation but decided against it. She opted instead to put her arm around Pearl again. Her smaller companion leaned into her, curling up a little, and looked up at her nervously. Jasper gave her a gentle smile and kissed her forehead. She saw the man glaring at her out of the corner of her eye and took some pride in the fact that her plan was working, despite being completely last minute. The bus was quiet with only the steady hum of the engine accompanying it. Most of the riders were tired from working the late or, like in Jasper's case, an early shift on a Friday night. After around half an hour of driving they arrived at the stop closest to Jasper's apartment building and got off.

It was only after walking for a few minutes that Pearl nudged Jasper.

"He's still following us." she hissed quietly.

Jasper slowly looked behind her, making the movement look natural by fixing her hair, and saw the man around half a block behind them. She sped up a little bit and decided to keep her eyes on the sidewalk. She hugged Pearl a bit closer.

"Don't worry. We're almost at my apartment building." she whispered. Pearl nodded, keeping her eyes forward and trying not to shake. It was another tense two minutes before they arrived at the apartment block and Jasper quickly tapped in the door code. A short elavator ride brought them up to the fifthteenth floor.

"Here we are." she said as she opened the door. A very short hallway opened into a living room with a table on one end and a couch on the other. What looked like an open walled kitchen was near the table. There was a second hall leading down to two more rooms in the back. Jasper gave Pearl a small smile."It isn't much, but it's my home."

"I think it's lovely, if a tad messy." Pearl said as she hung up her coat in a tiny closet. Jasper laughed a little.

"I'm glad you like it 'cause you'll probably be staying for -" Jasper stopped mid-sentence. She had walked over to the window as she was speaking and was staring outside. She went wide eyed and closed the curtains with a muffled curse.

"He's still out there."

"Maybe he lives nearby?" Pearl took a step back involuntarily. The tremor in her voice gave her fear away. Jasper shook her head.

"I've run a background check on him before. He lives in Ocean town." she grumbled. Why the fuck had this creep followed them all the way out here? Pearl sat on the couch and wrapped her arms around her torso.

"What do we do now?" she asked shakily. Jasper grabbed her phone and began dialing.

"We call the police." she stated as she waited for the device to ring. "Hello? I'm Jasper Dia. I live in apartment block C on Seven Eight Two Four Palm Street. There's a man outside of my building. He's not from the area and he followed the woman I'm with all the way from The Geode in the downtown. I've had encounters with him before and I believe he could be dangerous. Please send someone to investigate."

"The cops are on their way over right now. They should only be around fifteen minutes." Jasper said as she put the phone down. Pearl tried to smile. Jasper walked over and sat down next to her. "They're going to be asking some questions. Don't worry about identifying the guy, I know what he looks like, but they might ask you when he started following us and why you were at the club."

"To be honest, I was there to get away from everything, just for a while." Pearl admitted with a small blush.

"Lots of people do that- it's not something to be ashamed of." Jasper said.

"I know that, I just….. I'm not usually the type of person to go to a club. I went to The Geode because my twin recommended it to me. Then again, they used to date someone who worked there so I should have seen it coming. I guess, in the end, I wanted to dance something that wasn't ballet." Pearl explained. Jasper patted her on the shoulder gently.

"I'm glad you did. Otherwise I wouldn't have met you." she said. Then she realized how camp it sounded and withdrew her hand with pink cheeks. Pearl smiled slightly.

"Despite everything that's been happening I'd have to agree with you. It was worth it." she said. They sat in silence until the police came.

One quick description of the creeper and a few questions later, it was over, leaving the two alone again.

"See, that wasn't too bad, was it?" said Jasper. Pearl smiled and nodded.

"It was but how did you know what they would ask?" she said. Jasper awkwardly scratched the back of her neck.

"Well, you see…. I've been arrested before… a few times." she confessed. "The Geode is the only place that will hire me. I've been clean for a few years now so there's no danger of losing my job... but it does make things a little weird when people find out. Like now for instance."

"I don't think it's weird. You've messed up in the past but you're okay now and that's what matters." said Pearl. Jasper felt her face heat up even more. She barely had any friends, let alone ones that understood her, and she had lost a few to the sole fact that she had been to jail. But this woman wasn't scared, wasn't freaked out, wasn't even mad.

"Thanks. That means a lot." she said eventually. A quick look at the clock confirmed that it was almost three thirty. Jasper worked the midnight to two shift at work and usually was in bed by two forty. She stood up and stretched. "Well, since you're staying here allow me to show you to your room, my lady." she said, attempting to sound professional. She gave a mock bow and held out her hand. Pearl took her hand and stood as well though she only came up to the Jasper's shoulder.

"Lead the way, my lady." she said with a small smirk. Jasper walked down the second hallway to a small bedroom that was sparsely furnished and mainly covered in workout equipment.

"Well, I can see how you spend your spare time." remarked Pearl as she looked at the weights, amazed they all fit into the minuscule space. Jasper shrugged.

"Not much else to do. I don't get too much down time from work besides weekends and the lifting is just a hobby." she said.

Pearl took a second look at her companion; she was almost a full foot taller than her, very muscular, and she seemed like she could lift just about anything she put her mind to. Pearl's thoughts shifted from the idea that a "hobby" could make someone that strong and found herself appreciating the other things about Jasper, ones she hadn't paid too much attention to when they met. She had, of course, noticed Jasper's skin when she first saw her. It was obvious that the woman had vitiligo and Pearl took note of the markings. A very pale brown pink color contrasting the deeper brown shade on the rest of her. Her hair was obviously dyed and while Pearl had assumed at first that it was white up close she could see that it was really an extremely light shade of orange. She continued her observations as Jasper moved some things around. Even with all the muscle on her, her movements seemed graceful, reminding Pearl of some of the larger people in her ballet class. While Pearl would have expected her eyes to be brown she found that they were closer to an amber shade, almost fading into yellow.

"Will this work?"

Pearl snapped back to reality at the question. Jasper was by the bed, which she had tried to clean up a little, looking at her expectantly. Pearl blushed a little when she realized that she had been staring.

"It's great, thanks, but where are you going to sleep?" she asked. Jasper shrugged again.

"I have a couch." she said as if it was obvious. She started to leave the room and paused at the door for a moment, one hand resting on the frame. She turned back to face Pearl again. "If you need anything or feel... unsafe, for any reason, you come wake me up, got it?"

"Got it." Pearl said. Jasper grinned and began to close the door. She then seemed to remember something.

"Oh, if you need something to sleep in, there's clothes in the dresser. I'll see you in the morning. Just let me know you're going before you leave." she said.

"Thanks and don't worry. I'm not about to up and leave. I need to plan a route home." said Pearl. "Goodnight."

"'Night." replied Jasper. She shut the door behind her at last, leaving Pearl alone in the room. Pearl walked over to the dresser and took a look at what was available. As weird as it felt to be using someone else's clothes she wasn't about to sleep in her current ones or, even worse, sleep in nothing.

She noticed that a lot of the shirts had some sort of writing on them, usually relating to working out, and chuckled as she read a few of the sassier ones. Lots of them seemed to be orange as well and she concluded that it was probably Jasper's favorite color. Thoughts of her new friend began swirling in her head again as she rummaged through the dresser. She had already taken note of all the physical attributes of her rescuer but now she had the time to think about Jasper's personality. By what she had seen so far it was just as intriguing as the rest of her. Jasper was strong but gentle, understanding when Pearl needed support earlier that night. She was a quick thinker, coming up with her rescue plan in seconds, and had stayed in character the whole time. Pearl had found herself being drawn closer the more they had talked and realized that she hadn't felt this open to anyone in a long time- if ever. She shook her head and focused on the task at hand. She eventually decided on a large orange t-shirt reading "Sun's out Gun's out" across the front in capital white letters. By the time she changed clothes and lay down she could feel the fatiuge of the night catching up to her. She wriggled around and tried to get comfy. She made a mental note to call her sibling in the morning to inform them of what happened and hopefully have them pick her up. When she did fall asleep her dreams were the usual ones. A grand ballet performance. This time there was a new but familiar face in the crowd, with her toothy grin a mile wide.

Jasper, on the other hand, spent a few minutes staring at the ceiling in silence. Things had happened so fast at first that she hadn't really paused to take it all in. She had saved a woman from a creepy stalker whom they had called the police on. Said woman was now sleeping in her bedroom. Said woman was also very attractive and apparently single. God, Jasper hoped she wasn't strait. She buried her face into her pillow and sighed. Wherever she thought her life was going before it definitely had changed. All she could do was wait and see how things unfolded. She shifted position again. Sleep came gradually, much to her dismay, and she was still thinking about the woman in her room until she finally drifted off. Normally she never remembered her dreams, if she had any at all. Tonight, however, she found herself back at The Geode. Faintly familiar music filled the air as she danced once again with her mystery woman. This time there was no fear of a stalker nearby nor the awkwardness that came with their first encounter. Just Pearl, her, and the music. There they danced until the morning.

The sunlight breaking through the window woke Jasper from her peaceful slumber and she found herself humming as she opened her eyes.


End file.
